User blog:John Pan/Linebackers
Linebackers Linebackers are squads of ground-pounding professional soldiers that don't get to lead a bunch of 30-day wonders. Instead, they take care of the fire support role, touting machine guns to lay down overwhelming levels of firepower on the enemy, and using their superior accuracy to pick off enemy units pinned down by the shower of small arms fire. Squad Composition *Squad Leader *MG Gunner *Marksman *Sentry Sensory Eyes and ears, assisted by electronics. The squad leader gets a pair of good binoculars. Their helmets have a HMD that provides them with battle data, and a small tactical map displaying friendlies and known hostiles. A North Star “北斗星” friendly-tracker is standard. Upgrades None. Armament Type 201 (2) The Type 201 is a compact PDW built by Howa that fires 5.2mm x 20mm AP rounds. It is laid out similar to an MP5K, but fires armor-piercing ammunition, giving it more stopping fire. Linebackers commonly fit their Type 201s with 40-round magazines and 1.5x magnification sights. Type 501 MMG (1) The choice medium (general-purpose) machine gun in the IPC's arsenal, the Type 501 is a continued development of the Belgian MAG, modified for firing IPC-standard 8mm x 50mm rounds. The weapon also introduces some modern cost-reducing and time-saving manufacturing measures. Too heavy to use on the move, the MG Gunner plops the weapon down on its bipod whenever the squad is stationary. Belt-fed, the weapon can provide effective suppressive fire on targets at long range. Equips the MG Gunner. Type 402 (1) To lay down accurate lead on targets in the heat of battle, the Type 402 is a high-quality (translation: built in Japan or Singapore) three-round-burst 8mm x 50mm bullpup rifle, much like the AUG. Equipped with a potent 3x to 12x magnification optical telescope, the weapon is able to lay down rounds accurately on targets over 500m away. Equips the Marksman. Upgrades Type 502 HMG (1) The Type 502 is the most powerful machine gun fielded by the Superpowers. Firing high-powered 14.5mm x 114mm bullets, the weapon is a supersized CIS 50MG, a gas-operated, air-cooled, belt-fed heavy machine gun, which does include the CIS 50MG's dual feed system. This allows it to switch from one type of ammunition to the other with a flick of the switch. The drawback, naturally, is weight—every squad member needs to carry a 40-round 14.5mm belt, and the sentry turns into the ammunition carrier—laden down with four 40-round belts. Replaces the Type 501. 14.5mm SLAP To provide serious anti-tank firepower, the IPC picked up the PRC-era 14.5mm SLAP copy, and proceeded to produce them in large numbers—from high-quality ammunition manufacturers. Essentially mounting a “tiny” 12.7mm bullet's tungsten carbide AP bullet onto a plastic sabot, thus allowing it to fit into the case of a 14.5mm, the round effectively doubles its RHAe penetration. They are expensive, and mounted in the second ammunition feed. They can be switched into the gun's feed system by the MG gunner with ease. Protection Linebackers get the Iron Skin I ballistic suit, complete with armor inserts, allowing it to stop rifle rounds. Their helmets are not only equipped with high-tech toys, but also get Kevlar, Ceramic, and metal plating, allowing it to stop 7.62mm x 51mm rounds. The visor is hardened against 7.62mm rounds as well. Linebackers also have NBC protection. Upgrades Personal EW Platform Guided weapons suck. To remedy the widespread usage of E/O guided weaponry, Linebackers can obtain vest-mounted radar jammers (screws up proximity-detonation weaponry), a helmet-mounted hemispherical infrared threat detection suite, and handheld IR/ Laser dazzlers. Helps stop guided weaponry from finding their mark. Mobility Linebackers march on their feet. Due to their much heavier packs (15-odd kilos), they normally get mechanization, but when it's not available, they are capable of marching for kilometers on end. Upgrades HAL-M The Japanese HAL suit, demonstrated and commercially available before the GNC, now in its “M” military-grade form. While it still requires 20 minutes of muscle calibration to allow the wearer to properly make use of it, it is now hardened against the elements, and has a rechargeable lithium-polymer battery block to power the whole thing for 4 hours. Vastly improves mobility. Category:Blog posts